First Month Blogging. Check. And The Liebster Award

Wow. A whole month of blogging. And, I haven't even run out of ideas yet. In fact, I have drafts of posts still coming soon because I wanted to get this post out this week!Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has read my blog in the past month since my first post. I am blown away by the stats and never expected to have so many readers/pageviews in my first month! It's of course not all about the stats as I would blog regardless, but I thought I'd share and give myself a little pat on the back. Bloglovin': 21 FollowingTwitter: 29 FollowersInstagram: 7 Followers, one post with 23 likes! (and a couple more with 9)...my personal Instagram never got that many likes!Facebook Page: 54 likes! And Google Analytics tells me I've got 133 unique visitors. That is just incredible. I've taken part in three really awesome #lbloggers chats on Twitter, had a few conversations with some bloggers, joined a blogging forum, won a giveaway (which will have it's own post soon!), and was nominated for a Liebster Award!

Thank you so much Keena Lee over at Lee Muse for nominating me for the Liebster Award! It's an honor that anyone is reading, and here you liked it enough to put a link in your blog!Based on her post about it and a few others I've looked at, the Liebster Award is given to new bloggers by other bloggers. As it is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers it is a great way to learn about new bloggers! And I certainly am new!Getting into the bones of the award:

There are a few simple rules that you need to follow:

1. Mention the person who nominated you with a link in their blog

2. Answer the 11 questions provided by the person who nominated you

3. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers

4. Create a new set of 11 questions for your nominees to answer

1. What day do you post on your blog the most? Do you have a set schedule? Wednesday is my weekly post day. Well it started as Thursday but I prefer Wednesday. I post once a week plus the occasional extra post as it fits. 2. What do you love about blogging? I like having somewhere to document everything. I'm just starting this journey (as a blogger, wife, expat) and expect to do a lot of interesting things along the way and I think this blog is a great way to share those thoughts and experiences. Even if no one reads it, I can look back on it in a few years a see how I adjusted!3. If you can have any blog out there, whose blog would you want to have? One that makes decent money? Haha I don't have anyone in mind specifically. I mean I like being me and look forward to the content I hope to produce, but I wouldn't mind if this could turn into a work from home career like it has for some bloggers!4. What color clothing do you wear the most? Why? I don't know. I guess black? A lot of my closet is black (or at least a dark other color). I also like color though, I have a few yellow shirts I think suit me, and pink is nice. 5. What do you hate about blogging? Nothing yet! So far I've had a great experience with the lifestyle blogging community, everyone seems friendly and welcoming. I think at some point writer's block will plague me, but for now I've still got a few drafts and ideas so I'm doing ok!6. Which Social Media App do you use the most? I think I use Facebook/Twitter/Instagram pretty equally. Generally I check them all one after the other. For the blog I can see Twitter really taking over though, especially as there is the #lbloggers chat on Sunday nights!7. What can you not leave home without? Practically, keys...or I'd have a hard time getting back in. But psychologically my phone...as I use it so much when I'm out I'd probably be lost without it!8. Describe yourself in one word. Multifaceted - not as in I'm two faced, but as in there's a lot of layers to me. Remember the onion analogy from Shrek? Yeah. 9. What was/would be your first dance wedding song? I'm not sure haha. Kevin and I had a small registry wedding with a lunch after, no dancing reception. If we were going to have one I'm not sure what the song would be!10. Tell me something funny that happened to you. When I was in 6th grade we had an assembly where these yo-yo trick guys came and performed. I was chosen to go up and try a trick (around the world) and ended up hitting myself on the head in front of half the school. Pretty embarrassing. But I did get a free yo-yo out of it!11. What main reason you started a blog? (Being Heard, Being Seen, Popularity, Hobby, For Friends...) Just to document my life in England and vent a few frustrations with adjusting to life in a new country and culture!

I nominate:

1. Adventures in Tea and Cake - She's got it all, bit of beauty, bit of fashion, bit of food...and I've really enjoyed reading all of her posts so far!2. The Grits Blog - She's already been nominated but just in case you haven't read her go check her out. She's a Southern Belle and has a post about gooey butter cake. She clearly knows the way to my little blogger heart!3. Running on Coffee - She used to make YouTube videos that I watched so I followed her on Twitter, and she's semi-recently started this new blog which is all about getting healthy. This girl has made some very impressive life changes, and if I could muster up half her motivation and follow suit I would be so much healthier for it!4. Team Starnes Takes London - This is written by another American Alexandra...She's a recent expat I believe and I love her posts of exploring London. I was hooked though when I saw her post about their dog they've left with family in the States!5. Note to Self - She is a member of the message boards I mentioned joining earlier which is how I discovered her. I've really enjoyed her posts so far, especially the one about moving. Moving away from home is challenging whether its a few block or half the world away! I'm really looking forward to seeing how she settles in and any other thoughts she wants to share!6. Lisa's Beauty Street - She lives in Iceland! How cool is that? Plus she gives great product reviews, and I love the ideas on the Valentine gift guide she just posted! I look forward to reading more from her in the future!7. Mac & Cheese - Firstly I love her layout. It's so adorable but not overwhelming, what a great choice. She has some great (healthy) food posts, and interesting product reviews. I just found her in Sunday's #lbloggers chat and am really looking forward to setting aside time to read back through older posts!8. Bethnal Bohemia - She has this really awesome bright white hair, that takes mega guts to pull off...and she does it so well! She also has interesting product reviews and I especially love her rant about how it can be difficult to be petite and slim...just goes to show no matter which end of a spectrum we're on, fashion can be a challenge!9. Bristol in My Pocket - She is a native Texan living in Bristol. She's way better than me at managing to travel around England and I've been loving her pictures along the way!10. For Your Entertainment - This is my friend Megan's film blog. We met during our postgrad program and she's awesome and insightful. She is a great writer and is doing a 2014 movie challenge to watch all the top 250 IMDB movies! I can't wait to follow her on that journey!11. Project 365 @ Okiedokie - This might be cheating I'm not sure, but this is my husband's Project 365 for 2014. He's not always on time with his posts, but he does take a picture everyday and then writes a little snippet that's an insight into his (and our) life. Now...the questions for all you nominees!1. Why did you start blogging?2. What is the main goal you'd like to accomplish in 2014 with your blog?3. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?4. What is your earliest memory?5. If you could have any super power what would it be and why?6. What website do you spend the most time on?7. What if your dream job?8. Do you prefer cooking or getting take out?9. What if your favorite store, where you could probably spend too much money?10. Who is your favorite blogger?11. What is the best piece of advice you've been given/found?That's it! Now go my nominees, answer my silly questions and share more blogs for me to find!And if anyone just wants to answer the questions that's cool too, I'd be really interested to read the answers. You can leave them in a comment or link me to a post. I hope you all have a wonderful week!